


Just a Long Hug on a Quiet Night

by SmallPenguin19



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kataang - Freeform, just something for the snuggly soul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmallPenguin19/pseuds/SmallPenguin19
Summary: A fluffy headcanon set immediately after Book 3, episode 16. Aang goes to comfort Katara after she returns from her mission to find the Southern Raiders.Also on FF dot netCharacters belong to the creators of ATLA, of course.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 94





	Just a Long Hug on a Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> I took a few romantic liberties with this fic. After all we do know that during this point in the timeline Katara is divided on how she feels, but this fic is meant to cuddle the Kataang shippers heart.

Aang stared up at the endless starry sky. The stars have always been his silent companions; Guiding him through adventures and patiently twinkling above him during any challenge he faced. They burned bright and strong in the dark fabric of the sky. The reassurance that they will always be there to guide him reminded him of the way Katara was always there when he turned around after a battle, argument, or something similar. She was always there picking him up when he fell. Admittedly, when he was not worrying over what the future held for him as avatar, his mind dwelled on the color of her eyes or her hair, or her skin, or her lips. He would feel comforted in the recollection of her sitting across the fire, laughing, or trying to make a joke that he would always think was funny. Sometimes he would think of the way fighting turned the soft gentle lines of her body rigid and firm with focus, until she shifted forward like a wave crashing against a rock, fluid and fierce. But, she had been so cold and distant these last few days. Having had Zuko identify the man who killed her mother had her brought her back into the darkness that Aang had rarely seen consume Katara. It brought a coldness that deepened the blue of her eyes, making them icy like the underside of the icebergs at the south pole. 

He worried about her. He knew the one thing that would suck her into darkness was revenge for her mother, and although she hadn’t taken it, she had flirted with it. When Aang and Sokka had reunited with her and Zuko, she looked a kind of tired that he had only seen in the elder monks of the air temple. As if resigned to the lashes of familiar pains that tore at their hearts. 

He shook his head. Maybe he should go talk to her. See if she’s okay and remind her that she’s not alone. As he considered the thought, he felt himself moving, the air under him pushing him up onto his feet silently. It was as if his emotions controlled his bending on him and pushed him towards Katara. He padded up to her tent, a faint light visible under the fabric of the doors. 

“Katara? Are you up?” He whispered towards the tent, glancing back behind him. No one else in their camp stirred. 

There was the sound of shifting fabric and a sniffle that came from her tent. A moment later a delicate brown hand pushed back the fabric door. 

“Aang?” She whispered, looking up at him with red rimmed eyes. They were large and round. She looked a little lost, her hair wild and loose. Desire tugged at Aang’s heart. He yearned to smooth her hair down, pull her into his arms and shut out the rest of the world and its problems until it was just him and Katara. But he could never do that, he reminded himself that he didn’t have that kind of future. He already learned the consequence of shutting out the rest of the world. He pushed his desire away as it tried to burn within him. Controlling it like he had learned to control the elements.

“Do you want to talk?” he offered, his hands loose by his side. He breathed steadily, as he refocused on helping his friend. 

Katara looked around at the campsite beyond him. No one stirred, except for the subdued flip of Momo’s tail beside the snoring Appa, a sound that had become soothing to the gang over their month together. She looked up at him, her eyes steady. She nodded softly, moving back into her tent, but keeping the door open for Aang to join her. 

He ducked into the tent. It was full of the blues of the Water Tribe, as everything was with Katara. The bright blues of dancing water surrounded her even when they had worn Fire Nation clothing not that long ago. Her sleeping bag was to one side, and she curled her legs up against her as she settled on it. There was a small bowl with an equal sized flame sitting in the center of the tent, giving off a soft yellow light that lightened the blues and browns of Katara. Aang sat on the ground with his back to the door, adjacent to her. He was close enough that he could reach out and touch her reassuringly, but distant enough that he couldn’t wrap his arms around her. He hushed the thought in his mind. He was being a friend to her right now, not wrapping his arms around her. 

Silence hung in the tent as the mood settled around them. Katara was holding her knees against her. Staring at the light. Aang looked from the small fire to her, trying to decide if he should speak first or let her. 

“You were right, Aang,” She echoed softly, a repeat of her words earlier. “I realized while I stood before the man who killed my mother that revenge wasn’t going to heal me.” 

He focused his gaze on her, listening to her words carefully. 

“I was so mad. So, blinded by this pain I have for losing my mother. For years I’ve cast it like a blanket across the entire Fire Nation. Blaming every Fire Nation member as a whole. But, I’ve learned that the entire nation isn’t to blame. That fact has made me confused these last few weeks. There have been people in these village we have passed who reminded me of the good people we met in the earth kingdom and the children are no different than Water Tribe children. How can I maintain this anger at them all? It’s unfair. Zuko offered to me a way to redirect my anger, a focus point. A focus on the man that murdered her.” Her voice shook with either anger or despair, it was hard for Aang to tell which raged more within her. “And when I stood before him, I remembered what you said. As I held ice shards inches from him, I felt like I was holding ice shards to a part of my heart, where I keep my fondness, my love for my mother. A double edge sword. To kill him, would have never removed the pain in my heart, it would only add to it. But I had to feel the prick of the blade to realize, it wasn’t what I wanted.”

She took a deep breath, loosening her grip on her legs, sitting up a bit straighter as she loosened her tight control on her emotions, letting them slowly pour out of her. Aang’s gaze rested on her, reading her turmoil as she made herself vulnerable to him.

“He told me what he said to her. They came to our tribe that day to find the last water bender of the Southern Water Tribe.” She paused, her voice wavered. She looked up to meet his eyes. “They were looking for me.”

Aang’s eyes widen, he hadn’t considered it. He knew she was the only water bender in the Southern Water Tribe, it was a point of pride for her. But he hadn’t thought of how dangerous being the last water bender in the tribe could be. He didn’t know the full story of how she became the last water bender until they met the old women named Hama, the puppet master, who used blood-bending. He remembered Hama’s story of how the Fire Nation raids were intended to remove every last water bender from the Southern Water Tribe and they had nearly succeeded. It made sense that the raid that killed Katara’s mother had been one to find a water bender, after all, there was no other reason for the Fire Nation to return to the ravished tribe. But what he hadn’t connected was Katara’s mother’s death, the raids, and the last water bender of the Southern Water Tribe. 

Tears rimmed Katara’s eyes, giving them a glossy look. “She told him she was the later water bender. So, he killed her. But she knew it was me. She wanted to protect me. She died instead of me.” Tears fell from her eyes, her hand unconsciously touching the charm of her necklace.

“Katara,” her name was tender on his lips, whispered carefully as he reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. The distance between them felt like miles. A rush of desire to close the gap burned away any will power that was keeping him respectfully distant from her. He shifted his weight to move closer, pulling Katara into his arms as she melted from the pain inside her. She eased into him willingly, as if she too felt a pull to him. 

He held her against him as she sobbed softly into him, trying her best to muffle her tears in an effort to not wake anyone else in the camp. She pressed her tear stained cheek against the fabric of his shirt, running one of her hands desperately across his back to find hold on the orange fabric. She clutched at it as she tried to keep the sobs from taking her over. Her other hand carefully cradled the charm of her necklace. Aang pressed his face against her hair, feeling the wild strands tickle his cheek. He held her thin but strong shoulders, remembering, as he always had to remind himself, that they were still children, they were still small compared to the adults they constantly fought. He held her as she muffled sobs into him. He held her tightly, the last water bender of the Southern Water Tribe.

She wouldn’t be the only one for long. They would win the war and with that the tribe will be able to grow again. There would be more water benders. He would make sure of it.

“Your mother wouldn’t have wanted you to take revenge,” He told her softly, running a hand against her hair. 

“I know,” her voice was rippled by her tears but was still stubborn and strong, the Katara that stood up for what she believed in. The Katara that he was constantly amazed by. 

“I’m sure she’s proud of you. Not just for sparing him, but for all your strength. You’ve mastered water bending, faced down enemy after enemy, you’ve saved villages, healed so many people, and you saved my life. You saved the avatar, Katara, twice. You are filled with so much goodness and courage.” The words flooded out of him. Usually he would barely be able to craft such clever and heart felt words to tell her. He would waver and make a pathetic joke that she would politely laugh at before changing the subject. But with the heaviness of her despair against him, the words found their way to him. With the quiet of the night, the seriousness of the mood, his wisdom echoed through the tent, fighting her sadness. “I don’t know where the world would be without you. Katara, I don’t know where I would be without you.”

He had been kneeling beside her, and as he spoke, he started to sink down, holding her all the tighter. He felt her sob against him and rub her face into the fabric draped over him. Her hand was a fierce knot on his back holding him to her. She murmured his name into his shirt. It told him it was okay for him to go on.

“There are many, many bad things that happen in the world. Some of us receive too many of them, but we grow stronger from them. We move forward despite it all. I think you once told me something like that. It’s like mastering an element, there will always be more to learn, another reason to press on.” 

Katara stiffened in his arms. He loosened his grip slightly shifting to look at her. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I… I used blood-bending on a Fire Nation commander who I thought had killed my mother but he wasn’t him.” She shivered. Her voice thickening with disgust as she went on, “I hate it. I hate knowing how to do that. It’s cruel and terrible. I can’t believe I did that. Bending shouldn’t be used for that.”

Aang looked at her for a moment, thinking. It was a terrifying use of water bending. He remembered being controlled by Hama, how strange and uncomfortable it felt to be moved and controlled by someone else. Certainly, it was the dark side to water bending. It reminded him of his fear of fire bending. How he had thought it was an element born of destruction.

“Before Zuko and I went to the old Sun Warrior’s city, I thought fire-bending was only for destruction, that the only thing fire-bending ever did was hurt people.” He spoke softly to her, but entirely serious, not the usual Aang that joked every chance he got. “It turns out that isn’t how fire-bending was meant to be used. It is a source of life, like the sun. The sun which is made of fire and gives life to the plants, which gives life to the creatures who feed on the plants, including us. Fire-bending isn’t meant to be used to control and destroy villages and families. It is meant to bring life.” He paused, briefly looking around the tent nervously. “What I’m trying to say is that there will always be a bad way to use your bending. But we must aspire to use it for good. I don’t think I need to convinced you of that.” He gave a soft laugh, when she didn’t move in his arms he went on. “Knowing how something can be used for bad is important. It reminds us of the balance and value of life. There are things I’ve done that I’m not proud of. You know that. I ran away from accepting that I am the avatar. I disappeared for 100 years. I’m not proud of that at all, but it happened and I’ve learned from it. I can be better, do better.” 

He held her gently in the silence. The fire beside them crackled no louder than the murmur of grasshoppers. Her sobs decreasing in frequency. 

“Katara, as long as you continue to be your kind, caring self, you will bring more life to those around you.” He ran a hand down her long hair, soft against his hand. He breathed in, feeling the roar of his blood through his veins, the surge of an indescribable feeling he had grown familiar to having whenever he stopped to looked at Katara. It was a feeling that hummed even louder when he held her, something that reminded him of hum of the avatar state, but different. It was something more human than any feeling bending gave him. 

“Thanks, Aang,” Katara murmured, her voice no longer cracking. “I will always miss my mother. I will always wish things could have happened differently. Maybe I could have done something differently. But I won’t seek revenge. My mother wanted to protect me. It’s time I help to protect those I care about too. I will support you thought the battle ahead, Aang. I will be with you through this fight.”

Although her voice had its normal stubborn cadence, she didn’t let him go, she kept holding on to him. She relaxed her hand that was knotted in the fabric against his back, grasping the fabric with less force, and more love.

“I just… need a few more minutes,” Her voice faulter then, as she released her grasp on her mother’s necklace and wrapped that arm around him, spreading her fingers over the fabric covering his shoulder, her ring finger brushing his bare skin, the touch echoing through his body.

“Of course,” Aang repositioned his cheek against her head, adjusting his arms. “Take as long as you need.” 

The tent was quiet with only their breathing and the crackled of the small fire. The soft drum of Appa snoring could be heard outside the tent, counting out each minute of this moment of peace. Their moment of comfort lengthened into the night and soon Aang no longer thought of the war, of the Fire Nation, of training, of his worries for Katara. All he thought of was Katara here with him as the beat of the night pace onwards. For a stolen moment, there was only Aang and Katara.

\---Extra ----

Appa’s loud yawn shook the side of the tent, nudging Aang into consciousness. He felt groggy but relaxed and warm. Almost too warm. As he awakened he realized he had fallen asleep with Katara in his arms. In her tent. She stirred as he shifted slightly. Heat burned his cheeks as it dawned on him that he had stayed with her all night. Of course, all he did was hold her, but if the other’s found out…. Aang pulled away, releasing Katara from his arms, and trying to carefully pull back from the arm she had cast over him. His heart was racing in his chest, a part of him ached to move away from her, trying to tell him it was ending all too soon, but he didn’t, couldn’t listen.

As he pulled away, he looked carefully at Katara’s face, hoping he didn’t wake her. Her cheeks were rosy, but her features were still relaxed, her lips slightly parted. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes paused on her lips. He reminded himself he had to leave and quietly he stepped away from her, pushing himself out of the tent. 

Standing outside in the light of dawn, he brushed his clothing into some semblance of order and looked around to see if anyone saw him. His mind raced as it tried to formulate possible excuses to tell the others if they caught him walking out of her tent. Between each absurd excuse he considered he paused to remind him of what just happened. HE FELL ASLEEP HOLDING KATARA. 

He turned from the camp site, deciding maybe splashing water on his face would help him. The campsite was still with only the sound of Mono chattered in his sleep. He walked away from it towards the ocean, but even if he had stayed and stood outside her tent he wouldn’t have been able to tell that Katara was inside, her hands pressed to her mouth, cheeks bright red and her eyes wide as she collected her feelings. Nor would he have heard Toph mutter to herself, “Took you two long enough.”


End file.
